CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - It’s 2 am and artisan baker Brandon Morgan rises to make the first of what will be 500 loaves of fresh sourdough bread each week. It’s also time to check and nurse a sourdough starter for future batches and prepare some 600 pounds of bread flour for mixing.

Morgan is the owner of Sour and Soul Sourdough, a licensed home bakery in Citrus Heights which has become a popular seller at farmers markets throughout the Citrus Heights area since getting started just over three years ago.

He and Courtney, his former spouse, started their business together selling fresh bread and handmade gifts at the end of their driveway on 6929 Mariposa Avenue on Saturday as a friendly way to meet their neighbors and share their passion for making homemade sourdough bread.

At the time, they also had to contend with a toddler with a picky appetite who refused to consume anything but bread and milk. With some research to develop a recipe with the best ingredients possible, they started making sourdough bread rounds in an authentic and traditional way.

When their relationship ended, Morgan said he wanted to continue the business they both had created together.

Morgan, a former union ironworker, is passionate about his new career as an artisan bread maker and doesn’t mind facing an early start to each day where he’ll be busy carefully watching dough rise and gently kneading portions into what will become a 12-inch, two-pound round of sourdough bread. The process typically takes 40 hours to make a complete batch of bread from start to finish.

The hours and hours of trial and error, minor recipe changes, tinkering around with different individual baking techniques, learning to master bulk fermentation times, baking temperatures and the timing of dough mixing schedules all took time, Morgan said.

“I’ve learned to become a better baker,” he said. “I’m dedicated to using the best ingredients possible, and I believe you can honestly taste the difference in each loaf of bread and muffins that I make.”

Sour and Soul also offers pick-up and local delivery to its customers. Orders that are placed by 5 pm on Saturday are typically delivered on Sunday evening, he said.

“My former spouse and I first took a bold leap to join the Orangevale Farmers Market and offer our bread for sale,” Morgan said. “We were thrilled to see so many people enjoying our bread for the first time just as much as we did,” he said. Morgan started offering his bread, English muffins and cinnamon rolls at the Sunrise Mall Farmers Market in Citrus Heights.

Morgan relies on a crew of part-time staff which delivers his baked goods fresh from his Mariposa home to farmers markets throughout the local area just before they open.

“They’re a great group to work with and are just as passionate about introducing customers to some of the most flavorful sourdough bread they’ll ever find,” Morgan said.

Sour and Soul bread choices include a regular traditional round ($10.50) with white or whole wheat flour, made without filler and yeast and in Morgan’s words, “nothing else but flour, water and a whole lot of love.”

Customers may want to try a two-pound rosemary sourdough loaf, made with hand-picked fresh rosemary and generously sprinkled with rosemary sea salt. A popular seller is a roasted garlic sourdough loaf ($12.50) which tends to sell out early.

“I roast whole garlic cloves in organic olive oil, and then when I am folding the dough I sprinkle these delicious chunks in the sourdough,” Morgan said.

Sour and Soul also sells sourdough cinnamon rolls ($10.50) with icing on the side and a package of six sourdough English Muffins – ($10.50) made with A2 organic milk, farmers market honey and seasoned with Celtic sea salt.

“I promise to stay committed to bringing the highest quality sourdough bread products to our customers, and I’m passionate about creating food that feeds your soul,” she said.

Visit the Sour and Soul booth at the Orangevale Farmers Market on Thursday from 3 pm to 8 pm on 6826 Hazel Avenue, and the Sunrise Mall Market, every Saturday from 9am-1pm at 6041 Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights.

On Sunday, the Sour and Soul booth moves to the Carmichael Farmers Market from 9 am to 2 pm at 5750 Grant Avenue in Carmichael.

For individual orders, visit Sour and Soul Bakery on the web at: https://sourandsoul.square.site/ Delivery orders must be placed by 5 pm on Saturday for delivery on Sunday evening.